migrant

American  

[mahy-gruhnt] / ˈmaɪ grənt /

adjective

1. migrating, especially of people; migratory.

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noun

1. a person or animal that migrates.

2. a person who attempts to permanently relocate to a new country, but who may be subject to removal by the government of that country: unaccompanied child migrants.

   undocumented migrants;

   unaccompanied child migrants.

3. Also called migrant worker.  a person who moves from place to place to get work, especially a farm laborer who harvests crops seasonally.

migrant British  

/ ˈmaɪɡrənt /

noun

1. a person or animal that moves from one region, place, or country to another

2. an itinerant agricultural worker who travels from one district to another

3. 1. an immigrant, esp a recent one

   2. ( as modifier )

      a migrant hostel

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adjective

1. moving from one region, place, or country to another; migratory

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonmigrant
  adjective
• unmigrant
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of migrant

1665–75; < Latin migrant- (stem of migrāns ), present participle of migrāre. See migrate, -ant

Explanation

A migrant worker is someone who travels for a job––in the U.S., many farm workers migrate from Mexico every year to work on the harvest and then return home when their jobs are over. If you have traveled into a new country, you are said to have immigrated there, and you are an immigrant. An emigrant is someone who has left. Migrant doesn't refer to whether you are coming in or out––often it means someone who often travels back and forth, like migrant birds who migrate south every winter, year after year.

Example Sentences

Searching for their missing migrant children, a caravan of Central American mothers traverses Mexico with tireless, even superhuman determination.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026

With migrant arrivals down, the focus in Brussels has turned to improving the repatriation system.

From Barron's • Jun. 1, 2026

Her Tres Marias organisation, another group supporting migrant workers, has also shifted its focus to the war response.

From Barron's • May 25, 2026

The disappearance prompts Jing-nan himself, disguised as a Filipino migrant, to go undercover as a plant employee.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

We stayed indoors telling ghost stories we had heard from other migrant workers.

From "The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child" by Francisco Jiménez

Related Words

• emigrant
• evacuee
• expatriate
• immigrant
• traveler